26th International Association for Management of Technology Conference - IAMOT 2017

Innovation has always been part of all economy’s realities, although distinctly characterized. In the case of low-tech industries, innovation appears differently from the high-tech ones, as they have traditional characteristics that deal with highly diffused and mature technologies (Reichert, 2015). Moreover, they usually adapt external technologies into their manufacturing processes, avoiding applying them integrally (Hirsh-Kreinsen, 2015). However, innovation can indeed occur in these industries, and the firms may have an innovative performance, even if in a less apparent way. This is the case of the Brazilian food industry, which represents almost a quarter of the Brazilian gross domestic product (Brasil, 2015). Low-tech industries mostly innovate in the design of products, methods of production and purchase of new equipments (Bell & Pavitt, 1995), emerging from the areas of product innovation, process innovation, marketing innovation and organizational innovation (Reichert, Camboim & Zawislak, 2015). Thus, the capabilities model proposed by Zawislak et al. (2012; 2013), which integrates these four areas to measure innovation activity, seems to be appropriate. This study aims to identify the innovation capabilities in the food industry and analyze their configuration, in order to understand how innovation processes occur within this important part of the Brazilian market. The model proposed by Zawislak et al. (2012; 2013) is used to analyze innovation process in the Brazilian food industry. In order to describe the organization of the capabilities presented and to have a better understanding about innovation process within these firms, a database from a project conducted in the Brazilian industry was used. A mixed method was applied, once it was used data from interviews with five food firms and data from a survey with 120 firms from this industry. Data from these two methods were jointly analyzed, complementing the exposition. From the results it could be perceived typical characteristics from low-tech industries, with predominance of the operational capability and low investment in R&D, once 57,8% of the companies invest less than 2,5% of their revenue in R&D activities. There is a difficulty in creating new products, so innovation usually is focused on small changes in operational processes, with improvements of an already existing product (49,2%) instead of creating a new one. The main investments occur in machinery and equipment (44,2%), with a focus on quality control (34,2%). These companies are market dependent, once 73,1% of them use a cost price definition. After the analysis of the activities developed within the Brazilian food industry, a low-tech sector in its origin, it was possible to determine how innovation processes should be structured in order to obtain market advantage. Though, firms in the food industry may be consider innovative, even if they don’t present usual innovation activities, such as R&D departments, use of patents, technological process, and so on. Firms in this industry perform in an innovative way, focusing on business activities. The present study stresses some material to better understand the dynamic environment of the Brazilian food industry context. Thus, once the innovative pattern of the firms comprised within this industry is identified, it becomes possible to have enough knowledge to help with the decision-making processes that firms within similar contexts can adopt when considering their innovation strategies, enabling them to see innovation with different lenses and proving that they can, indeed, innovate.